VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Newly minted UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's first title defense likely will be delayed due to a recent knee surgery.

Rua (19-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who knocked out Lyoto Machida at UFC 113 to earn the 205-pound title, was expected to meet Rashad Evans later this year.

With Rua's window of recovery, UFC president Dana White is unsure when the Brazilian champ will fight again.

"He just got out of the hospital; it was a successful surgery," White said. "He had the surgery in [Los Angeles], and he's going to be doing all his therapy in (Las) Vegas.

"So he'll be in Vegas for the next five weeks."

White said Rua's injury occurred during the fight with Machida, though a report from ESPN's "MMA Live" the night of the May 8 event stated Rua's knee was already injured.

"He got hurt in the fight," White asserted.

The UFC president does not know which knee Rua injured.

The Brazilian superstar previously has struggled with knee injuries. He faced Forrest Griffin with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his octagon debut at UFC 76 and afterward underwent surgery to repair the damage. Less than six months later, he withdrew from a scheduled fight with Chuck Liddell at UFC 85 with the same injury and underwent another surgery.

Rampage/Machida looks like a likely outcome at UFC whatever this was suppose to be, to replace Rashad/Shogun.